Data note
Mailchimp vs Buttondown at 1,000 Subscribers and Four Sends a Month
Buttondown's published $9 for 1,000 subscribers against Mailchimp's published floors as of 2026-10-25, plus what four monthly sends do to each plan.
Buttondown publishes the number: $9 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, which is $108 a year, and four sends a month sits inside its one-email-a-day assumption. Mailchimp does not publish a 1,000-contact price in its served pages; the published floor for a list that size is Essentials at $13 per month after a 14-day trial, with Standard from $20 per month, and the exact 1,000-contact figure comes only from Mailchimp's on-page calculator.
- Buttondown Basic costs $9 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers (checked 2026-10-25).
- That is $108 per year for 1,000 subscribers, or $54 a year with Buttondown's 50% non-profit discount (calculated 2026-10-25).
- Buttondown's free tier stops at 100 subscribers and Standard, at $29 per month, covers up to 5,000 (checked 2026-10-25).
- Mailchimp's free plan stops at 250 contacts and 500 sends per month, so 1,000 subscribers is a paid tier either way (checked 2026-10-25).
- Mailchimp's published paid floor is Essentials at $13 per month after a 14-day trial, with Standard starting at $20 per month (checked 2026-10-25).
- Four sends to 1,000 subscribers is 4,000 emails a month, inside Mailchimp Essentials' 10-times-contacts send allowance of 10,000 (calculated 2026-10-25).
3 primary sources · If this is out of date, tell us and we will re-measure.
On this page
At 1,000 subscribers and four sends a month, one of these two vendors tells you the price and the other makes you calculate it. Buttondown publishes $9 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, which is $108 a year, and its prices assume at most one email a day, so four monthly sends fit. Mailchimp publishes no 1,000-contact figure in the pages it serves: the free plan ends at 250 contacts and 500 sends, Essentials starts at $13 per month after a trial, and the exact number for a 1,000-contact list only appears once you move the calculator.
What each vendor publishes for 1,000 subscribers
| Item | Buttondown | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier ceiling | 100 subscribers | 250 contacts, 500 sends per month |
| Price for 1,000 subscribers | $9 per month, $108 per year | Not published; Essentials from $13 per month, Standard from $20 |
| Next tier up | Standard, $29 per month, up to 5,000 | Contact ladder, up to 50,000 contacts at $385 per month |
| Send limit basis | Price assumes at most one email a day | 10 times contacts on Essentials, 12 times on Standard |
| Discounts listed | 50% for non-profits | 15% off the first 12 months at 10,000 or more contacts |
What four sends a month does to each plan
| Question | Buttondown at $9 | Mailchimp Essentials |
|---|---|---|
| Emails sent per month at 1,000 subscribers | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Monthly send allowance | Not metered separately; one email a day assumed | 10,000, which is 10 times 1,000 contacts |
| Does the cadence change the price? | No, inside the stated assumption | No, 4,000 sends sits under the allowance |
| Annual cost at four sends a month | $108 | Above $156, exact figure from the calculator |
The send count is 1,000 subscribers times four campaigns (calculated 2026-10-25); the Mailchimp annual figure is $13 times twelve as a floor, not a quote.
What the numbers actually mean
Buttondown's price is per subscriber ceiling, not per send. Paying $9 for up to 1,000 subscribers means a 400-subscriber list costs the same as a 1,000-subscriber one, and sending four times a month is inside the stated assumption of at most one email a day. The bill only moves at 100, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 subscribers, which makes it predictable for a newsletter that grows steadily.
Mailchimp's structure is the opposite: the price tracks contacts, and the send limit is a multiple of contacts rather than a fixed number. On Essentials that multiple is 10, so 1,000 contacts buys 10,000 monthly sends, and four campaigns of 1,000 use 4,000 of them (calculated 2026-10-25). The cadence is not what costs money on Mailchimp; the list size is.
The unpriced gap is the story. Mailchimp's free plan covers 250 contacts and 500 sends, and its next published rung is 50,000 contacts at $385 per month, so the 250-to-50,000 range is quoted only by the calculator. Anyone budgeting $13 for a 1,000-contact list is using the entry price of the smallest paid tier as if it were a quote for their tier, which is the most common arithmetic error in these comparisons.
Engagement rules diverge too. Buttondown states it charges for active subscribers, so a list with heavy churn or a large inactive tail bills on the live portion, while Mailchimp counts contacts in the audience against the plan. On a 1,000-name list with 20% dead addresses, Buttondown bills 800 subscribers inside the same $9 tier while Mailchimp counts all 1,000 toward its allowance.
How we measured it
Figures come from three pages fetched on 2026-10-25: Mailchimp's pricing page, Mailchimp's plan comparison page, and Buttondown's pricing page, whose structured product data lists Free at $0 for 100 subscribers, Basic at $9 for 1,000, Standard at $29 for 5,000, Professional at $79 for 10,000 and Advanced at $139 for 20,000. No account was opened on either service and no campaign was sent. Annual totals and send counts are arithmetic on published prices and are labelled calculated.
What changes in practice
If the list is between 100 and 1,000 subscribers and the cadence is weekly, Buttondown is the only one of the two with a published price for that size, and it is $9 per month. That is a budget line, not an estimate.
If the list is heading past 1,000, run Mailchimp's calculator before comparing anything, because the $13 figure will not survive contact with a 5,000-contact list. The published rung at 50,000 contacts is $385 per month, so the ladder rises steeply between the two.
If support matters, read the support rows rather than the price. Mailchimp's free plan stops at 30 days of email support and its paid tiers include email and chat, while Buttondown's pricing page lists no support tier at all, so the $9 buys the product and nothing documentable beyond it.
Bottom line
At 1,000 subscribers and four sends a month, Buttondown's published bill is $9 per month, $108 a year (calculated 2026-10-25). Mailchimp's published floor is $13 per month and its real 1,000-contact price is not on the page, so the honest comparison is $108 against something above $156 until the calculator produces the number.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I get a Mailchimp price for 1,000 contacts?
Because Mailchimp quotes per-contact pricing through a JavaScript calculator and does not print the grid in the page it serves. The pricing page publishes starting prices and two fixed contact rungs, up to 250 contacts on Free and up to 50,000 contacts at $385 per month, and the 1,000-contact number has to be generated in the calculator.
Does Buttondown charge more for frequent sends?
Its published prices assume at most one email a day to your entire subscriber base, so four sends a month is inside the stated assumption and does not change the $9. Sending several times a day is outside what the price assumes.
Do both services count the same subscribers?
Buttondown states it charges for active subscribers, so inactive ones drop off the bill. Mailchimp counts contacts in the audience against the plan allowance regardless of engagement, with marketing contacts treated as the billable unit on its paid plans.
Is there a non-profit discount?
Buttondown lists a 50% discount for non-profits, which takes the 1,000-subscriber plan to $4.50 per month. Mailchimp's pricing page lists a 15% discount for 10,000 or more contacts in the first 12 months, not a non-profit rate.
Sources
- Mailchimp pricingChecked 2026-10-25
- Mailchimp plan comparisonChecked 2026-10-25
- Buttondown pricingChecked 2026-10-25
Cite this page
Nadia Voss (2026). “Mailchimp vs Buttondown at 1,000 Subscribers and Four Sends a Month”. Actual Database. https://actualdatabase.com/mailchimp-vs-buttondown-for-1000-subscribers/